And I'm back! I've gotten back into VK in a serious way and I'm really enjoying bringing Lyle's story back to life.

And before we go into this chapter, I'm going to point out to anyone that does have a pet tarantula, that I don't condone anything said about owning one in the beginning of this chapter. I'm personally terrified of spiders, but tarantulas are as good a pet as any other if that's what you like. I'm sorry if anything Jesse or Eddie say rubs anyone the wrong way.

Dangerous Tonight
Vampire Kisses

Jagger Maxwell / OC

Bite XIV

The Light

The night out with Jesse and Eddie had started brilliantly. Jess and Eddie had tumbled into my place at eight, toting poison of their choice. The three of us settled in the living room, and after a comment about the background music coming from my laptop sat in the corner from both of them (Scorpions - not their style, but quickly becoming mine, much to my surprise), we got down to the brass tacks of the evening.

We chatted and gossiped and joked.

For a little while, at least, before Eddie noticed the new addition to the living room. "Is that a fish tank?" He pushed himself up and moved forwards to nose at the tank. Fluffy was hidden away under his terracotta pot. "New pet?"

"Uhh... Sorta? I'm looking after him for Jagger while he's in town." As much as Eddie freaking out like I did amused me, I really didn't want to freak out Fluffy with a nineteen year old's girly scream. "I'd back up a bit. He's a spider."

I don't think I'd ever seen someone back up as quickly. Jesse and I laughed as he sat back down beside me, looking disturbed.

"Why?" was all he asked.

"Don't ask me. I'm pretty sure I screamed when I first saw him." I could feed him now, though watching him chase crickets around his tank was disturbing. I still wasn't anywhere near close to holding him. I didn't think I would be any time soon. "Maybe it's a goth thing? Having creepy pets. I mean, I would have been okay if he had bought a snake or something in, but Fluffy really freaked me out."

Jesse arched a brow. "Fluffy? It's one thing having a spider, but to call it Fluffy? What the fuck?"

"I'm the one to blame for that, actually." I held my hand up guiltily. "I asked Jag what sort of fluffy creature I was looking after, before I knew it was Fluffy over there, and he never actually told me his name, if he even has one. Do people name their spiders? Y'know, I'm going to have to ask Jagger if he actually has a name. Anyway, I had to call him something while he was here, and Fluffy seemed as good a name as anything."

I talked to Fluffy as much as I talked to anything else in the house. When I was milling around, I felt a lot less insane when I was talking to something instead of myself. At times when Cat was around, I talked to him. But Cat was becoming a less frequent occupant in the last couple weeks, so I had to turn my conversation to someone else. Fluffy wasn't going anywhere, trapped inside his tank, so he was the perfect thing to talk to when I needed to project my internal monologue outwards without sounding crazy.

Jesse shook his head. "I'd go crazy having that thing in my house. They're better off under a boot."

My brows furrowed together roughly. "Hey now, that's someones pet." Just a few weeks ago, I would have been saying the same thing about them. But I'd spent a few weeks looking after Fluffy, and despite not being able to hold him, I was growing fond of him. Fond enough that Jesse's comment actually hurt. How could he say that about someone's pet?

"It's not like they're proper pets," Eddie snorted, taking a sip of his vodka and coke.

I stopped myself from commenting by taking a swig of my own drink. "Shall we head out soon?"

The pavement weaved unsteadily under my feet as I made my way back towards home.

I was fuzzy, and unsteady and giggly. Going out clubbing with Eddie and Jesse had been just what I needed. I'd been horrible and keeping up with them, but going out like we usually did was nice.

I was humming as I reached for my keys, stumbling through Loveland towards home.

My good mood faded a little when something shifted in the shadows of my porch. Someone was sitting on the rickety old swing seat that had been there when I had bought the house. My tongue lashed over my lips nervously as I moved forwards, squinting to try and see who it was. Their dark clothes were making it even more difficult to guess who it was.

It wasn't until I was at the bottom of the path up to my door that I recognised who it was.

Jagger was laid out on the seat, one leg propped up on the seat and the other planted on the floor, pushing himself slowly back and forth. His arms were crossed, cushioning his head. He had an iPod resting on his stomach. I could hear the heavy base of the music as I approached. He was going to go deaf if he carried on listening to music that loudly. His eyes were closed, and his head bobbed slightly to the beat of the music. His red hair tickled at his jaw with every little movement.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "I'm getting you a fucking cowbell for your birthday," I decided aloud in a whisper, punctuating my decision with a nod.

He didn't even twitch, too lost in the loud music.

I leaned over his prone form, just watching him for a long moment, before I closed the gap, pressing a peck to his lips as I tugged an earphone from his ear. His eyes peeled open and a little smirk curled his lips. I would have jumped a mile if someone did that to me.

"What are you doing out here this late?" I asked as we both shifted, so he was pressed into the back of the seat, and I laid out facing him. Our legs tangled together, and one arm wrapped around me to keep me fro falling backwards off the seat. It was a comfortable position to be in despite my thin clothing and the coolness of Jagger's body against mine in the cool spring evening. "It's like three am."

"I wanted to spend some time with you."

A little smile curled my lips.

Friday evening found Jagger and I laid out on the couch together. I was spread out across the couch, nose buried in Dead Until Dark, with my feet sat in Jagger's lap. Jagger had my laptop sat open on top of my shins. Disturbed blared around us.

I chewed my lip as I read through a fine description of a vampire. Tall, blond and muscular? My type of man, undead or not. "You know, you could learn so much from vampires if they existed," I commented distractedly as the vampire, Eric, was described as the oldest thing in the bar. "They must have so much history behind them. Could you imagine sitting down and talking to a Vampire that had lived through it all? The rise and fall of civilisations?"

Jagger's head snapped around towards me and I set my open book against my stomach as he spoke. "You're reading a vampire book?" Clearly, despite all the work that he'd put into gothic-ing me up, he hadn't expected me to be into something as dark as vampires without his prompt.

"Well, yeah. It was supposed to be good." I'd dabbled in Vampire literature. The film Kissing Coffins had been my introduction to vampire culture, and I had picked up a few books since watching the film, to see if anyone got it quite as good. Twilight had been a steaming pile, in my opinion. Vampire Diaries had been just...strange. Anne Rice had gotten it pretty awesome. But this one had been my favourite so far. There was something more adult and realistic to it that I enjoyed.

"You like vampires then?" He leaned towards me in that intense way he had, laptop forgotten for the moment.

I shrugged, toying with the already dogeared front cover of the book. "Sure. What's not to like? Immortality, eternal beauty, turning into animals? The only thing I'd miss would be getting a tan," I joked with a laugh. "Well, alcohol, too. Clubbing would be boring if I couldn't drink."

He let out a little huff. "Vampires can drink. They were human once, mostly. You don't just lose your digestive system because you turn."

I let out a little giggle. "You've put some thought into that." I pushed myself to sit up and grinned at him, biting my lip. "Would you?"

"Would I what?"

"Become a Vampire, if you could. I feel like saying yes is mandatory, 'cause you're a goth and all, but really? If you had to honestly decide, would you be able to do it? To not eat again, or go out during the day, or have your photo taken? Like, how would you get your ID?"

Jagger's eyes turned upwards as he thought. It didn't take him long to come to a decision. "Definitely." He smirked at me. I rolled my eyes. Called the mandatory yes. "What about you? Would you turn, if you could?"

I hummed, and really thought on it. "Not now," I decided. "I'm too deep into Uni to give it up. Going to night classes wouldn't be the same. But after Uni? When I get my life back and I'm a certified psychologist? Hell yeah. I could open up a practise for other vampires, or something. I'm sure there wouldn't be that many counsellors that cater to vampire's needs out there."

His pierced brows shot up. "Just like that? You'd let someone bite you just like that as soon as you graduate?"

"Why not? I can deal without a tan, and I could do so much being immortal. Travel, see all the sights I could. I'd love it." I set my book on the coffee table, and reached forwards to do the same with the laptop. Then I knelt beside Jagger, facing him. I grinned as I cupped his face in my hands. "Maybe if we find a vampire, we could become vampires together, huh? We definitely mesh well together. I could see us being together for eternity."

When you think all is forsaken
Listen to me now (all is not forsaken)
You need never feel broken again
Sometimes darkness can show you the light

Disturbed continued to blare, and my lips quirked up a little as I really listened to the lyrics. It was like the song was playing just for this situation. What was darker than a goth, or a vampire? My goth had certainly shown me something brilliant in the last few weeks.

I hadn't been with Jagger for long, but the two of us meshed together really well. We looked like chalk and cheese, with Jagger's bold gothic style, and my much more delicate looks, but we got on like a house on fire. I was coming to love his style, and it was slowly bleeding into mine. Our humour matched, and we were fantastic together in bed. The two of us just clicked beautifully.

Maybe it was the romantic in me that wanted to believe that the two of us would last. There wasn't any logic in that decision, for sure.

His hands found my hips, and tugged gently, pulling and guiding me until I was straddling him. One hand slid up my back, pushing me closer to his chest. He leaned up, pressing a kiss to my lips, then trailing tender little kisses down my neck.

Don't ignore, listen to me now (all is not forsaken)
You need never feel broken again
Sometimes darkness
Can show you the light

"So could I."

Aren't we excited, guys? The first talk about Vampires. Lyle still doesn't know, but its getting closer! She might even eventually, shocked gasp, find out that Jagger's a Vampire.

I had a lot of fun with this chapter. If you enjoyed it, please let me know. I love reading your reviews!